Influences of general computer experience and age on library database search performance

Two experiments examined the effects of general computer experience and age on library system search performance among novice library system users. Twenty younger adults (10 with high and 10 with low computer experience) and 20 older adults (10 with low and 10 with no computer experience) performed 10 search tasks of varying difficulty. Search success, syntax errors, database field specifications, keyword specifications, and use of Boolean operators were examined. Among younger novices, high computer experience was associated with slightly better performance than low computer experience. Among older novices, having some computer experience was associated with much better performance than no computer experience. Older computer users showed lower overall success rates, made more syntax and field specification errors, and demonstrated poorer understanding of Boolean logic and keyword matching algorithms than younger adults with similar computer experience. Implications for interface design and training interventions for novice on-line library system users are discussed.     

Influences of general computer experience and age on library database search performance

Two experiments examined the effects of general computer experience and age on library system search performance among novice library system users. Twenty younger adults (10 with high and 10 with low computer experience) and 20 older adults (10 with low and 10 with no computer experience) performed 10 search tasks of varying difficulty. Search success, syntax errors, database field specifications, keyword specifications, and use of Boolean operators were examined. Among younger novices, high computer experience was associated with slightly better performance than low computer experience. Among older novices, having some computer experience was associated with much better performance than no computer experience. Older computer users showed lower overall success rates, made more syntax and field specification errors, and demonstrated poorer understanding of Boolean logic and keyword matching algorithms than younger adults with similar computer experience. Implications for interface design and training interventions for novice on-line library system users are discussed.     

Web search behavior of Internet experts and newbies

Searching for relevant information on the World Wide Web is often a laborious and frustrating task for casual and experienced users. To help improve searching on the Web based on a better understanding of user characteristics, we investigate what types of knowledge are relevant for Web-based information seeking, and which knowledge structures and strategies are involved. Two experimental studies are presented, which address these questions from different angles and with different methodologies. In the first experiment, 12 established Internet experts are first interviewed about search strategies and then perform a series of realistic search tasks on the World Wide Web. From this study a model of information seeking on the World Wide Web is derived and then tested in a second study. In the second experiment two types of potentially relevant types of knowledge are compared directly. Effects of Web experience and domain-specific background knowledge are investigated with a series of search tasks in an economics-related domain (introduction of the Euro currency). We find differential and combined effects of both Web experience and domain knowledge: while successful search performance requires the combination of the two types of expertise, specific strategies directly related to Web experience or domain knowledge can be identified.     

From e-sex to e-commerce: Web search changes

The Web has become a worldwide source of information and a mainstream business tool. Are human information needs and searching behaviors evolving along with Web content? As part of a body of research studying this question, we have analyzed three data sets culled from more than one million queries submitted by more than 200,000 users of the Excite Web search engine, collected in September 1997, December 1999, and May 2001. This longitudinal benchmark study shows that public Web searching is evolving in certain directions. Specifically, search topics have shifted from entertainment and sex to commerce and people, but there is little change in query lengths or frequency per user. Search topics have shifted, but there is little change in user search behaviors     

Designing an information search interface for younger and older adults

OBJECTIVE: The present study examined Web-based information retrieval as a function of age for two information organization schemes: hierarchical organization and one organized around tags or keywords. BACKGROUND: Older adults' performance in information retrieval tasks has traditionally been lower compared with younger adults'. The current study examined the degree to which information organization moderated age-related performance differences on an information retrieval task. The theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence may provide insight into different kinds of information architectures that may reduce age-related differences in computer-based information retrieval performance. METHOD: Fifty younger (18-23 years of age) and 50 older (55-76 years of age) participants browsed a Web site for answers to specific questions. Half of the participants browsed the hierarchically organized system (taxonomy), which maintained a one-to-one relationship between menu link and page, whereas the other half browsed the tag-based interface, with a many-to-one relationship between menu and page. This difference was expected to interact with age-related differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence. RESULTS: Age-related differences in information retrieval performance persisted; however, a tag-based retrieval interface reduced age-related differences, as compared with a taxonomical interface. CONCLUSION: Cognitive aging theory can lead to interface interventions that reduce age-related differences in performance with technology. In an information retrieval paradigm, older adults may be able to leverage their increased crystallized intelligence to offset fluid intelligence declines in a computer-based information search task. APPLICATION: More research is necessary, but the results suggest that information retrieval interfaces organized around keywords may reduce age-related differences in performance.     

踩点式信息搜索的新方法

从小偷踩点获取藏金信息中受到启发，提出了一种互联网信息智能搜索新方法。能够从已经分好类的特定领域网站中，准确高效地搜索出隐藏于其内部的目标网页。把所有的搜索网页根据检索信息分成两类：一类是信息点，一类是信息路径。采用信息路径特征与信息点信息量特征描述有机结合而形成的一种新的搜索知识表示方法。基于这种知识表示方法，智能搜索方法不仅能够对网站中网页进行深度优先的智能搜索，而且还能够通过对其搜索过程和结果的自学习来获取更多更好的搜索知识。     

Analyzing the emotional outcomes of the online search behavior with search engines

The affective component has been acknowledged as critical to understand information search behavior and user-computer interactions. There is a lack of studies that analyze the emotions that the user feels when searching for information about products with search engines. The present study analyzes the emotional outcomes of the online search process, taking into account the user’s (a) perceptions of success and effort exerted on the search process, (b) initial affective state, and (c) emotions felt during the search process. In addition, we identify profiles of online searchers based on the emotional outcomes of the search process, which allow us to differentiate the emotional processes and behavioral patterns that lead to such emotions. The results of the study stress the importance of the affective component of the online search behavior, given that these emotional outcomes are likely to influence all the subsequent actions that users perform on the Web.     

基于P2P的个性化Web搜索系统的设计与实现

针对中心化的Web信息搜索系统在覆盖率、及时性、个性化、可扩展性等方面存在的问题,提出了一种基于Peer-to-Peer(P2P)的可扩展、个性化的Web搜索系统PeerBridge。PeerBridge基于分布式哈希表组织大量的网络结点形成有组织的P2P覆盖网络,每个对等体作为一个主题搜索引擎,根据用户兴趣从Web中搜索特定主题相关的信息,而具有相似主题的对等体被聚集在一起形成基于主题的对等体簇,协作进行Web搜索与信息共享。并采用主题驱动的Web爬行、基于语义概念的文档分类、个性化的链接分析和基于主题划分的P2P搜索等机制来改善PeerBridge的性能。     

搜索引擎的Web Robot技术与优化

针对目前如何使搜索引擎快速准确地从庞大的网页数据中获取所需资源的需求，文中对搜索引擎作了概述，重点阐述了搜索引擎的Web Robot搜索器的搜索策略、文档提取以及搜索优化措施，提出了改进搜索引擎的Web Rohot的方法，改进后的Web Robot能够更有效地发现和搜集信息。为搜索引擎进行信息搜集，高效、稳定的Web Rohot保证了为用户提供的网上信息的全面性和实时性。     

Information commitments: evaluative standards and information searching strategies in web-based learning environments

Abstract 'Information commitments' include both a set of evaluative standards that Web users utilize to assess the accuracy and usefulness of information in Web-based learning environments (implicit component), and the information searching strategies that Web users use on the Internet (explicit component). An 'Information Commitment Survey' (ICS), consisting of aforementioned components, was developed. The participants of this study were 610 university students, coming from four universities in Taiwan, and their information commitments were surveyed. Through a series of structural equation modelling (SEM) analyses with Linear Structure RELationships (LISREL), this study confirmed the reliability and validity of ICS. More importantly, the causal relationships between the two components of ICS were also examined. The findings showed that learners' evaluative standards on Web materials (implicit component) had significant effects on their information searching strategies in Web-based learning environments (explicit component). For example, learners who utilized an advanced evaluative standard, such as using multiple sources to judge the accuracy of Web materials, were significantly more oriented toward using a sophisticated information searching strategy, such as carefully exploring and elaborating information in Web-based learning environments. In other words, learners' evaluative standards for Web materials should be viewed as important predictors for their searching strategies in Web-based learning environments.     

Tuning up the search engine

Advances in Internet search engine technology may not help you blast Klingons into outer space, but they should help you find them more quickly on the Web. The whole arena for Internet searching has become rather interesting. Search engines appear poised to make some serious breakthroughs in relevancy ranging and personalization that promise to increase the accuracy and reliability of search. On the ether hand, data suggests that users are becoming increasingly disenchanted with search engines that don't actually search the Web, but rather search records of the Web sites their robots have visited. Some online merchants (Victoria's Secret, for example) don't even enable keyword searches on their sites. The Web's increasingly dynamic nature complicates searching. New pages created on the fly using personalization information, and even static content, with dynamically inserted sidebars, navigation bars, advertising and commentary, can present a rapidly changing picture for any robot to discover. And as indexes grow larger, search system performance becomes a significant problem     

基于用户行为分析的个人信息检索研究

个人信息检索是指个人计算机上用户搜索个人信息(通常是文档)的过程,与互联网检索相比,个人信息检索能够利用的信息很少,这使得其检索结果的排序更加困难。该文通过考察计算机上的用户行为,对个人信息检索的排序问题进行深入的研究。该文考察的用户行为主要包括用户在检索系统中的查询行为和在计算机上的文件访问行为。该文一方面通过查询行为数据训练出结果排序函数,另一方面通过文件访问行为数据获取文件自身的权重,最后利用统计学习方法结合这两类行为的计算结果。实验结果表明,该文提出的方法好于传统的TFIDF排序方法。     

Searching for multimedia: analysis of audio,video and image Web queries

The development of digital libraries has enhanced the integration of textual and multimedia information in many document collections. The World Wide Web provides the connectivity for many digital library users. Studies exploring the searching characteristics of Web users are an important and a growing area of research. Most Web user studies have focused on general Web searching, regardless of subject matter or format. Little research has examined how Web users search for multimedia information. Our study examines users' multimedia searching on a major Web search service. The data set examined consisted of 1,025,908 queries from 211,058 users of Excite ®, a major Web search service. From this data set, we identified and analyzed queries for audio, image, and video queries. Our findings were compared to results from general Web searching studies. Implications for the design of Web searching services and interfaces are discussed.     

Thinking style impacts on Web search strategies

Web searches entail complex cognitive processes influenced by individual differences, and users with similar cognitive or skill factors tend to develop multiple search strategies. The authors analyze such strategies in terms of level of thinking style (global versus local), search targets, and six search behavior indicators and report (a) a significant relationship between different thinking style levels and individual search target types and (b) that different thinking style level conditions can cause significant differences in search behavior performance regarding maximum depth of exploration, revisited pages, and Web pages visited for refining answers. The findings suggest that high global style users tend to disperse their targets to comprehend the search task while high local style users elaborate on a few specific topics. Furthermore, high global style users skim more, require less explicit answers, and are less likely to explore an issue in depth compared to high local style or bi-high style individuals. The results confirm that thinking style level is an important factor affecting search intention. To improve search experiences, search engine designers should incorporate human factors into their products so as to take advantage of personal learning approaches.     

The effects of zoomable user interfaces and user age in searching for a target with a mouse on a two-dimensional information space

A zoomable user interface (ZUI) is a useful function to help users deal with large information spaces displayed within a screen. Although used in many applications, ZUIs have not been sufficiently studied in terms of usability. Usability problems may be more crucial for older people than younger ones. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of a combination of two zoom factors (three zoom focus methods: original-center, re-center, and aiming-point; and two zoom scales: +100% and +400%) for two age groups (younger and older adults) on mouse-based information searching tasks in a map-type two-dimensional information space. Twenty four volunteers (twelve users per age group) participated in the experiments by answering a pair of questions about fifty movie information topics. Task completion time, number of operations, and number of errors were selected as performance measures, and a subjective assessment of satisfaction was collected. Older adults used the tested ZUIs less efficiently and precisely than younger adults. The effects of zoom focus methods vary with zoom scale levels regardless of the age groups. The participants also preferred using the aiming-point focus regardless of zoom scale and using the re-center focus with the +400% scale. We discuss potential implications of the age-related performance differences and the effects of ZUI functions, and suggest some ZUI design guidelines in conclusion. We expect that the findings can be used as basic resources in designing various web services and applications for older computer users.

Relevance to industry

Given that a zoomable user interface is widely used in basic geographic information systems, web services, and various applications, using a selective-focus method such as the aiming-point focus can improve computer users’ usability; in particular, the zooming functions will greatly help older people to explore large information spaces quickly and easily.     

基于中文搜索引擎网络信息用户行为研究*

为了更好地理解中文搜索用户的检索行为,首先建立一个搜索引擎选择平台,主要是用来生成研究中所需的日志文件;然后从中英文用户的搜索行为差异的角度出发,对日志文件进行深入研究,包括各中文搜索引擎使用率比较以及中文用户输入查询行为的一些规律等。研究结果表明,对准确地评测搜索引擎检索的效果以及未来中文搜索引擎设计的改进都有较好的指导意义。     

Web designers and web users: Influence of the ergonomic quality of the web site on the information search

Despite rapid growth in the number of web sites, there is still a significant number of ergonomic problems which hinder web users. Many studies focus on analysing cognitive processes and difficulties experienced by web users, but very few are interested in web designers’ difficulties or in comparing their respective activities. Towards this end, the two experimental studies presented in this article compare the strategies developed both by professional web designers and (novice vs. experienced) web users while searching for information on web sites of varying ergonomic quality. More precisely, we investigated whether web designers can effectively use their own strategies as web users when designing web sites. We presented a comparison of novice web users, experienced web users and professional web designers searching behavior and cognitive load when using ergonomic and non-ergonomic web sites. In addition, we asked web designers to predict the strategy used by novice web users. Based on the results obtained in the two experiments, we conclude that web designers are not able to predict strategies of novice users and do not behave like novice users. Consequently, ways for supporting web designers in developing a user-centered activity are necessary, and certain ways are suggested at the end of this article.     

基于搜索引擎调用的主题搜索设计与实现

网络搜索是目前从因特网上获取信息的主要手段,而网络蜘蛛又是大多数网络搜索工具获取网络信息的主要方法,主题搜索策略是专业搜索引擎的核心技术.通过研究网络蜘蛛的工作原理,分析了网络蜘蛛的搜索策略和搜索优化措施,设计出一种将限制搜索深度.多线程技术和正则表达式匹配方法结合一起的网络蜘蛛,实验结果表明该方法能够快速而准确地搜索所需的相关主题信息.     

Automatic integration of Web search interfaces with WISE-Integrator

An increasing number of databases are becoming Web accessible through form-based search interfaces, and many of these sources are database-driven e-commerce sites. It is a daunting task for users to access numerous Web sites individually to get the desired information. Hence, providing a unified access to multiple e-commerce search engines selling similar products is of great importance in allowing users to search and compare products from multiple sites with ease. One key task for providing such a capability is to integrate the Web search interfaces of these e-commerce search engines so that user queries can be submitted against the integrated interface. Currently, integrating such search interfaces is carried out either manually or semiautomatically, which is inefficient and difficult to maintain. In this paper, we present WISE-Integrator - a tool that performs automatic integration of Web Interfaces of Search Engines. WISE-Integrator explores a rich set of special metainformation that exists in Web search interfaces and uses the information to identify matching attributes from different search interfaces for integration. It also resolves domain differences of matching attributes. In this paper, we also discuss how to automatically extract information from search interfaces that is needed by WISE-Integrator to perform automatic interface integration. Our experimental results, based on 143 real-world search interfaces in four different domains, indicate that WISE-Integrator can achieve high attribute matching accuracy and can produce high-quality integrated search interfaces without human interactions.Received: 2 January 2004, Accepted: 25 March 2004, Published online: 12 August 2004Edited by: M. Carey     

Mobile information search for location-based information

This study investigated mobile searching for location-based information by carrying out two experiments in an airport. The independent variables were user context, information type, information requirement pressure, and location-based information type. Experiment 1 compared users’ search performance in different user contexts while searching for different types of information. The results indicated that when users searched for location-based information, the average number of clicks decreased, the importance of the first search result increased, and free recall was better compared with non-location-based information searching. Experiment 2 further investigated the users’ mobile search performance under different levels of information requirement pressure. The results indicated that users under low pressure clicked more search results compared with users under high information requirement pressure. Compared to transactional query searching, when users engaged in informational and navigational queries, the average number of clicks increased, the importance of the first search result decreased, and free recall was worse. There was no significant difference in the number of clicks when users chose the first two search results during a mobile searching process for location-based information.